Zhou Guanyu will not start from his original grid position at the back of the field for the Austrian Grand Prix. Instead, Sauber has decided to violate parc ferme regulations in order to make adjustments to Zhou’s Formula 1 car. This means that Zhou will begin the race from the pitlane. However, he will not lose any positions as a result of this decision.
Zhou had a difficult qualifying session, recording the slowest time and failing to progress beyond the opening stage. He finished two-tenths of a second behind his teammate Valtteri Bottas. Sauber’s choice to modify Zhou’s C44 car before the race has resulted in his pitlane start.
After struggling in previous races leading up to Barcelona, Zhou returned to using the chassis he had before Sauber introduced a new one at Imola. Despite starting at the back of the field, Zhou felt that his Sauber car was performing better overall and was more predictable since the change.
Bottas also had a disappointing qualifying session, finishing in 18th place. Logan Sargeant’s Williams split the two underperforming Saubers. Sauber is currently the only team that has yet to score any points this season and faces a challenging task to end their point drought at the Red Bull Ring.